This invention arises within the field of positive reinforcement based dog training philosophy and methodology, and provides a solution to a long-standing problem.
One of the first learning tasks a puppy or newly adopted dog must accomplish upon arrival in a household is to recognize the items it is permitted to chew on and play with and to discriminate between those items and others that must be left alone. There are several reasons why this is a particularly difficult task.
Puppies and dogs naturally explore their environment and investigate objects within it by using their mouths. Teething—the shedding of deciduous teeth and the eruption of adult teeth—is a protracted process taking the entire first year of a canine's life. During these months, a dog is often driven to relieve sore gums by chewing on objects which have a soothing texture. For dogs of all ages, chewing is an inherently satisfying activity and one of the chief stress-relieving behaviors utilized by canines. Human environments are rich with objects arousing curiosity and/or providing satisfying outlets for the chewing drive. For these reasons, dog owners provide their dogs with toys for chewing, shaking, tugging and other behaviors which dogs find satisfying.
Dog toys come in myriad sizes, shapes, materials, scents, tastes and textures. To a dog, there is no obvious way to distinguish dog toys from other objects such as children's toys, clothing, books and household items, furniture, etc., any of which may be equally or more attractive to the dog than the designated toys.
The current and prior art provides many methods by which the owner or trainer may correct (punish) the dog for selecting inappropriate items for play or chewing, or deter the dog, through use of applied repellants, from mouthing prohibited objects, but provides no method by which a dog can identify for itself items that are approved for play.
The substances and devices of current art used in this training include repellant substances that can be applied to non-approved items causing a dog to avoid mouthing them; aversive-tasting materials which punish a dog's incorrect selection of a play item, electric shocking devices or devices emitting a punishing sound when a dog investigates non-approved objects.
All the afore-mentioned training aids belong to the category of punishers or aversives. These are generally avoided by trainers who prefer to use positive reinforcement methods and aids. While punishment can have a legitimate role in training, it has significant drawbacks—especially when employed by persons with a low level of skill. To be effective, punishment in training must be immediate, sufficient but not excessive, inevitable, and clearly identified with its precipitating action. Even when these criteria are met, there is the certainty that fear will be engendered. Fear is undesirable because it interferes with learning and because it adversely affects the animal's bond with the owner or trainer. Such bond, if allowed to form and nurture, strengthens motivation for learning.
Some dog toys have been designed to deliver food rewards to the dog that chews on and plays with them. While these provide some positive reinforcement for that particular object selection by the dog, once the food has been consumed, there is no particular reason for the dog to choose to play with that object.
Chewing is known by dog behavior experts to be a self-reinforcing pleasurable activity, as well as a stress or anxiety-relieving activity and an exploratory activity. And since chewing inappropriate objects can destroy valuable property and also cause harm to the dog, training dogs to recognize and select approved play objects and avoid other items, without the necessity for the owner's constant supervision and intervention, is a high priority objective for most dog owners.
Heretofore, there has been no safe and effective way to accomplish this. Such a lack of method of training has resulted in much confusion and anxiety on the part of dogs and much frustration, anger, and damage to property on the part of owners.
The field of positive dog training has long needed a way to facilitate dogs' learning to recognize approved play objects so that correct choices can be positively reinforced, leading to the recognition of the category of permitted play objects without sole reliance on punishment and aversives.